Draft gear mounting



Aug. 28, 1951 J. c. TRAVILLA, JR

DRAFT GEAR MOUNTING Filed NOV. 6, 1946 a v /,v l/EAH'OE 5 JAMES C.TRAVILLAJJR- 5r 3 13 12a AT K/L/E'VM Patented Aug. 28, 1951 DRAFT GEAR MOUNTING James C. Travilla, 51"., Swarthmore, Pa., assignor to General Steel Castings Corporation, Granite City, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application November 6, 1946, Serial No. 708,071

6 Claims.

The invention relates to railway vehicles and more particularly to a mounting for draft gear and coupling structure.

Draft gear coupler mountings, as used heretofore, were difficult and tedious to adjust to accommodate a change in the coupler height due to vehicle wheel wear, spring set, pilot adjustment, or other well-known causes. The draft gear and coupler were raised or lowered in the draft gear pocket by removing or applying shims between the draft gear support bar and the draft sills, and by removing or applying corresponding shims between the draft gear and the top of the draft gear pocket to control vertical play of the draft gear relative to its support.

The main object of the invention is to facilitate adjustment of the draft gear and coupler by constructing the draft gear support Hoar and a retaining member, for controlling vertical movement of the draft gear relative to its support, as a unit so that the draft gear mounted in the unit can be raised or lowered in the draft gear pocket merely by removing or applying shims between the draft gear support bar and the underside of the draft sills without removing the draft gear and without separately shimming at other places, such as at the top of the draft gear pocket.

Another object is to apply the shims only at places which are easily accessible.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a horizontal section, taken approximately on the line ll of Figure 3, through the forward central part of a railway vehicle framing including a draft gear mounting constructed according to the invention and showing a coupler associated with a draft gear yoke and followers, parts of which are omitted in the upper portion of the figure to better illustrate the invention.

Figure 2 is a partial side view and longitudinal vertical section of the same structure taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section taken approximately on the line 33 of Figure 1 and shows the draft gear adjusted to different elevations at opposite sides of the central vertical Draft gear 5 may be of any suitable type and, as shown, corresponds to that described in Blomberg Patent 2,216,429, issued October 1, 1940. It includes a yoke 6 having spaced pockets l. A coupler 8 has a head 9 at its outer end and a horizontally bifurcated shank Ill at its inner end to be received in pockets I of yoke 8. Coupler 8 pivots in a horizontal plane relative to yoke 6 about a vertical pin ll extending through the bifurcated end of shank I0 and pockets 1 of yoke 6.

Movement of draft gear 5 upwardly from support bar 3 is limited by an inverted U-shaped member l2 extending upwardly into draft gear pocket 2. The lower ends of the sides of member l2 have inturned flanges 12a welded to support bar 3. Draft ear 5 is supported on wear plates 13 welded to the upper faces of flanges Support bar 3, member !2 and draft gear 5 may be adjusted vertically as a unit in the draft gear pocket to lower or raise coupler 8 merely by respectively applying or removing shims [4 between support bar 3 and draft sills I, as shown in Figure 3. Member I2 retains draft gear 5 in assembly with support bar 3 so that no special shimming is required between the top of the draft gear and the top of the draft gear pocket, as was necessary heretofore.

The draft gear mounting described above may be used in passenger or non-passenger railway vehicles and, as shown, is particularly designed for use with a locomotive tight lock coupler where any adjustment of the pilot height changes the relation of the coupler to the draft gear pocket.

The details of the above-described construction may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A railway vehicle draft gear mounting comprising a draft gear support bar, means rigid with said bar and arranged to limit vertical movement of a draft gear supported by the bar, said support bar and means being adjustable as a unit relative to the vehicle frame to raise and lower the height of the draft gear.

2. A railway vehicle draft gear mounting comprising a draft gear support bar, an inverted U- shaped member mounted on and attached rigidly to said bar and arranged to receive a draft gear and to retain the draft gear in assembly with the support bar, said support bar and said mem- 3 her being adjustable as a unit relative to the vehicle frame to raise and lower the height of the draft gear.

3. A railway vehicle draft gear mounting comprising a draft gear support bar, an inverted U- snaped member having inturned flanges on the lower ends of its legs with their lower faces secured to said bar, wear plates secured to the upper Iaces of said flanges, said bar extending beyond said flanges with its terminals arranged for attachment to the draft sills.

4. A mounting for a railway vehicle draft gear and coupling structure comprising draft sills, a support bar attached thereto, a member attached rigidly to said support bar and adapted to retain a draft gear in assembly with the support bar, and means for vertically adjusting the support bar and the member as a unit relative to the sills.

5. A mounting for a railway vehicle draft gear and coupling structure comprising draft sills forming a draft gear pocket therebetween, a support bar extending transversely of said sills and attached thereto, a member attached rigidly to said support bar and extending upwardly between said sills into the draft gear pocket and adapted to retain a draft gear in assembly with the support 4 bar, there being means for vertically adjusting the support bar and the member as a unit relative to the sills.

6. A mounting for a railway vehicle draft gear and coupling structure comprising draft sills, a support bar attached to said sills, a member rigid with said support bar and adapted to retain a draft gear in assembly with the support bar and including sides extending upwardly between said sills, said support bar extending outwardly of the member sides with projecting end portions secured to the lower portions of said sills.

JAMES C. TRAVILLA, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 775,484 Williamson et al. Nov. 22, 1904 1,065,646 Westlake June 24, 1913 1,390,675 Darby Sept. 13, 1921 2,024,863 Mussey et a1 Dec. 17, 1935 2,271,907 Wilson Feb. 3, 1942 

